Air distributor



May 2s, 1929.

C. A. WALOUKE AIR DISTRIBUTOR Filed May 3 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet,

INVENToR C'arlesf. Waloulre SYM/@w ATTORNEY May 28, 1929. c. A. WALOU'KE1,714,649

AIR DISTRIBUTOR Filed May 3, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' lNvEHNToR war/65A.T/Valoaive ATTORN?? Patented May 28, 1929.

cHAELEs A."WALoUKE, o'E CLEVELAND, 01110.

AIR msmEIEu'roE.y

Application filed May 3,

This invention relates to air distributers, and especially to suchdevices as applied to furnaces in which a central fire pot is providedfor combustion, thesmoke and other products of the combustion passingolf at the upper part of the furnace, and the fuel being ordinarilydirected as a gas into the lower portion of the lire chamber ordeposited as solids just above the ash grate.

My invention relates especially to fuel economizers whereby many of theproducts ordinarily passing off through the chimney may be used in amore perfect combustion resulting in a great saving of fuel. It is wellknown that much of the fuel waste in furnaces is due to the fact thatnot sufficient oxygen is supplied at the point where combustion issupposed to take place, or that the outsideair entering the lire chamberthrough the usual draft openings is supplied at'so low a temperaturethat the combustion is imperfect and incomplete. My improved distributeris ,des signed to overcome both of these defects, supplying an adequateamount of oxygen by an air current in a heated condition and` directedto the proper point forperfect combustion.

It is an object of my invention to arrange a device havinghollow tubularconstruction mounted upon the walls of the furnace and penetrating thesame so that the air directed through it will be forced out at a pointsomewhat above the flames in the fire chamber, usually at a pointsubstantially the level of the upper portion of the furnace door. In myimprove-d construction, I insert the tube leading to the device throughthe furnace wall at the rear of the furnace opposite the door or ateither side, though in some cases it maybe desirable to introduce thedistributer pipe j ust above or at one side of the door.

It is a further object of my invention to so attach the distributer pipeto the wall opening through which it is' directed, that the connectionsat the wall will serve as a means ef mounting the distributer within thechamber. Y Y v With these and other objects in view, I have yinvented aconstruction embodying the features herein described and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a'vertical section of ahot air furnace showing my improved air distributer Y in operativeposition within the fire chamber ;A Figure 2 is a plan View of the airdistributer in position, a portion of the upper covering 1926. YSerialNo. 106,270.

plate being removed, andthe furnace wall shown in section; Y

Figure 3 is a plan view of a modified form of the device, shown in alarger scale and omitting the attachment with the furnace wall;

Figure 4 is avertical section of the device hown in Fig. Sftaken ontheline 4-4 of ig. 3; Figure 5 is a vcross section taken on the 'line5-5ofFig.3; t Figure 6 is a cross section taken online 6-6 of Fig. 3 i YFigure Tris a view, partly in section showing a form of the devicemounted upon the rear wall of a water heating furnace with the walls ofthe furnace in section. n

In Fig. 1, I have shown my improved air distributer l as an annulus 2formed of'hollow pipestructure, here shown as rectangular incross'section'but not necessarily so, and having a number of apertures?)inthe walls of this pipe. When the cross section is rec'- tangular, theapertures in the upper and lower plate of this pipe will preferably bearranged in staggered relation, as shown in Fig-f2,

while the apertures in the side walls will also be staggered, and notdirectly opposite theL top and bottom apertures, when this can be done.This ring 2 is supported by an integral pipe 4 connected by anintermediatepipe 5 which leads Vfrom the outer wall of the furnace :tothe wall of the fire chamber 6. l The parts'4 and 5 will be connectedtogetherby suitable flanges 7 and iXedly secured to the being renderedgas proof bysuitable packing such as asbestos, fibre or other suitablemeans for avoiding leakage; It has been found highly advantageous totelescope in some way, the

vchamber wall by bolts' 8, the parts usually f connecting ends of thesections 4 and 5, yas by inserting thereduced end 9 opfthe'tube 5.within the opening 10 of the pipe 4. This construction hasbeen foundhighly eifective'in making the joint leak-proof. The bolts 8 areinsertedin registering apertures vin the flanges of both parts 4 and. 5, as wellas through therwalls of the chamber, so that the pipes 4 and 5 arebolted together vsecurely and also theV annulus2 positively supported inposition over the center of the fire area. The section 5, as shown inFigs. 1 and2, conducts air from the opening 11 at'the outer surface ofthe furnace l2,`through,thespace between the outer vfurnace wall and thewall llO of the lire chamber 6, thereby beingY pre-` heated somewhat bythe hot-air chamber 13. rlhis is desirable, since this arrangen'ientprovides an introductory heating prior to entering the high-temperaturesection 4l where it is pre-heated by the fire chamber heat directly bythe flames and gases therein. The

ropening 11 may be partially closed by a valve itpass'es out into thelire chamber through the various apertures 3, as above explained. Theouterend of the tubular section 5 is attached to the outer wall of thefurnace by other flanges 7, and by an outer ring 19 ap plied to the edgeof the opening in the furf nace wall, `the ring and flanges being boltedtogether in the manner that the sections are secured tothe fire chamber.

In the form shown in Figs. 3 to 6, the annulus 2() is provided with thesame character of apertures 3, but the lower plate 21 thereof is spacedfrom the upper plate a greater distance .at the point of union with thesection 22 which latter is modified to register with such union, thissection being tubular and inclined, in the same manner as the pipe 1,with its lower end attached tothe section 5, just as in the form shownin Figs. 1 and 2. In 'further spacing this lower plate 21, itis curveddownwardly at 23 to approximately double the vertical space between theplates that they have in the balance of the annulus, and this space isdivided horizontally by a web 24: having an entrance projection 25extending into the section 22. Apertures 3 are provided in the walls ofthe upper chamber 26 of the enlarged tubing as in t-he arrangement inthe annulus shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The entire vertical wall 27 at thispointis formed in wedge-shape as in the first form. The section 22 maybe enlarged at the upper end only, being lreduced to the usual circularshape at its lower end where it connects with section 5.

In all these forms shown in Figs. 1 to 6,- the annulusV is showny asrectangular in cross section, and divided into double chamber form inFigs. 3 to 6 for a portion of its extent. It is to be understood thatsuch tubing may, if desired, have some other form in cross section, suchas .circular or oval. The apertures 3 would be placed at differentpositions on the outer wall of such tube, to distribute the air atdifferent points and in different directions therefrom, for greatereffectiveness.

In Fig. 7, I have shown my airdistributer improvement, the otherwiseseparate parts 4 and 5, will now be made integral as the part 29 whoseupper end is integral with the annulus 2, and the lower end inserted inan opening of the plate 28 and secured therein by the flange-ringconstruction in much the same manner as the part 5 is attached to thefurnace wall, in Figs. 1 and 2. In this con-y struct-ion, as in thoseshown in Figs. l to 6, inclusive, the annulus is supported solely by theinclined pipe from the f furnace wall, and in a position centrally overthe fire area, so that the only partially burned gases from the fuelwill receive oxygen supply froml the distributor and again burn in aheating flame of great intensity. Y l

The purpose of .all theseconstructions is to malte feasiblea preheatingof the air introduced into the firev chamber, and do this by aconstruction admitting of ready assembly when mountedV within a newfurnace, but especially admitting of application to furnaces alreadyassembled and mounted `in a building, and possibly already in use forsome time. This makes quite. essential that the pre-heating tubc-l or22,shall not be attached to any part of the` furnace other than at theopening therein where the tubes are inserted. OperatiomMy improvedstructure is adapted for mounting within the fire chamberof all types offurnaces. I have illustrated it asmounted on either air current furnacesor water heating furnaces. It is obvious thatv it is adapted equallyVwell for use in steam or vapor furnaces, it being only essential thattubing being provided that shall `pierce they walls between the'eXternalVsurface of the furnace and the fire chamber.

It is to be noted that when the inner .wall of the fire chamber isspaced appreciably from the outer furnace wall, as in Fig. 1, theintermediate,section, shown `here as 5, must be mounted between and uponthese walls, and that the connection made by this section with the outersurface and with the support section, must be one that is leak-r ico llO

above the center of the fire area of the fire chamber. As the air in thesection 5 is heated as it passes therethrough outside the fire chamber,it enters the latter already moderately heated, when it is further andmore positively pre-heated by the high temperature of the gases in thesaidchamber. The air supply from said distributer will therefore bedischarged from the various apertures 3 of the device highly heated andvery well adapted to support combustion of any gases arising from thefire area below and thereby resulting in a far more perfectA of the fuelelements, and which member is readily mounted upon the furnace walls.This feature is, to my knowledge, new and patentable.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

l. The combination with a furnace having a iire chamber spacedinteriorly thereof, of an air distributer comprising an annular tubingpolygonal in cross section and having apertured walls and a horizontalpartition plate within said tubing and dividing the air space at theent-rance portion of the tubing into an apertured upper space and animperforate lower space, an imperforate tubular section connectedintegrally with said tubing and inclined downwardly from said tubingwithin the fire chamber and mounted upon the wall of the chamber byattachment concentric with an aperture of said wall, a horizontaltubular section connecting the aperture in the chamber wall with anaperture in the outer wall of the furnace, so that outer air may passthrough the horizontal and inclined sections to the annular tubing andabove and below the said partition plate and thence escape through saidtube apertures, the said tubing with apertured walls being supportedsolely by the said inclined section. V

2. The combination with a furnace having a fire chamber spacedinteriorly thereof, of an air distributer, comprising a curved tubularportion positioned over the fire area of the fire chamber of saidfurnace, an inclined and imperforate portion leading downward andoutward from said curved, portion mounted upon the walls of saidfurnace, a' tubular section connecting the walls of the furnaceV and ofthe chamber by having its ends piercing the said walls, respectively,the inner end of said section telescoping the lowei` end of saidinclined section, and means onthe outer surface of the furnace wall foradjust-y ably closing the outer' end of said tubular section.

3; The combination with av furnace having a fire chamber spacedinteriorly thereof, of an air distributer comprising an annular tubingpolygonal in cross section and having apertured walls, an imperforatetubular s ection connected with said apertured'tube at one end andinclined downwardly from said tubing within the fire chamber and mountedupon the wall of the chamber by attachment concentric with an apertureof said wall, and a horizontal tubular section connecting the aperturein the chamber wall with an aperture in the outer wall of the furnace,so that outer air may pass through the horizontal and inclined sectionsto the annular tubing and thence escape through said tube aper- 1 tures,the said tubing with apertured walls being supported solely by the saidinclined section.

4. The combination with a Vfurnace having a lire chamber spacedinteriorly thereof, of anair distributer comprising an annular tubingpolygonal in cross section and having apertured walls and a horizontalpartition plate within said tubing and dividing the air space at theentrance portion of the tubing into an apertured upper space and animperforate lower space, an imperforate tubular section connected withsaid tubing` and inclined downwardly from said tubing within the firechamber and mounted upon the wall of the'chamber by attachmentConcentric with an aperture of said wall, a horizontal tubular sectionconnecting the aperture in the chamber wall with an aperture in theouter wall of the furnace, so that outer air may pass through thehorizontal and inclined sections to the annular tubing and there divideat the said partition plate, the air above the plate thence vescapingthrough said tube apertures and the air below thel plate passing to apoint beyond the plate and thence escaping. through the farther tubeapertures, the said tubing with apertured walls being supported solelybyl the said inclined section.

In witnessl whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of April,1926. f

CHARLES A. WALOUKE.

